CHINA: Flooding rain impacts hundreds

Monday, December 16, 2013, 11:36 AM -

Heavy rain battered Gasa Town in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Yunnan Province Saturday and Sunday, affecting over 800 residents and flooding about 50 hectares of farmland.

The continuous downpour have caused flooding in five villages of the town in Jinghong City and 50 hectares' farmland, resulting in an economic loss of over one million yuan.

The water level in the Manfeilong Reservoir also soared since the strong rains hit the area. Water volume reached 126 million cubic metres, close to the historical record volume of 13.5 million cubic metres.

The reservoir's management station is monitoring the situation, opening sluice to release water.

"We have been observing the situation, and have discharged water more than a dozen times. We will gradually increase the volume of water discharge from the reservoir and try to avoid flooding in downstream farmland and villages," said Fu Guoqing, an employee of the reservoir's management department.

Some areas of the province have been affected by the strong rainfall since Friday.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Sunday issued a blue alert for the downpours.

With the arrival of a cold front, the province will see temperature drop by four to eight degrees Celsius in the next three days, the NMC said.